ten for her instrument, world percussion, played by Peter Lockett and electronics. In this music, I tried to confront, and transcend, two different musical traditions by emphasising their dissimilar approaches to composition and performance: on the one hand the intuitive and ritualistic tradition of the East (represented by four Indian tabla, frame-drum, tamtam, suspended cymbal, and two Tibetan bowls), on the other hand the precise, yet passionate and daring attitude of the West (represented by the harpsichord). Although each instrumentalist is affirming a well-defined cultural and performance tradition – notice for example the fully notated harpsichord part and seven improvisation models for the percussions – both instruments are trying to establish a link which may enable them to find a common idiosyncrasy and an inspiring ground for interaction (see Figs. 10 & 11).

The seven rhythmic patterns assigned to the percussionist do not subscribe to any Indian rhythmic custom at all. This is mainly because I wanted to challenge the percussionist whose training took place within the Indian classical music tradition (although he was British) and not Western music (for example, he would be unable to read the rhythms - they were too complex for him – and I was asked to record them on tape, so that by listening to the tape several times he could learn them by ear). I was interested to see how far I could confront him with rhythms alien to his musical habit, knowing that he would inevitably tend to use the instruments according to Indian performance techniques. On the other hand, I wanted to see how the Western-trained harpsichordist would react to the spontaneity of the percussion’s improvisation in terms of phrasing, general interpretation and, finally, the joint final cadenza.

The inevitable pitch-based discourse of the harpsichord on the one hand, and the improvisatory rhythmic universe of world percussive instruments on the other, are gradually projected onto a newly emerging sonic environment, a transcendental space, illuminated by the electronic domain, that unifies the two instruments into another timbral and conceptual proposition. East and West, rhythm and pitch, are metaphorically transcended through timbre, here exemplified by the electronics.

Encounter, therefore, represents an attempt to devise a dialogue that is exploring cultural and technical dissimilarities such as the notion of composition and improvisation in the East and the West, rather than established affinities. Finally, such a duality is symbolically dissolved through the gradual increase of the electronics leading to the climax of the final cadenza. This is then followed by a meditative soundscape where the two Tibetan bowls are played live by both performers and timbrally expanded by the tape part.